The Book of Ruth

Ruth is one of the shortest books of the Old Testament and one of the best loved: four chapters and eighty-five verses, set "in the days of one of the judges, when the judges ruled" (Ruth 1:1). Its story runs from famine to harvest. A family of Bethlehem goes into exile, three men die, a widow returns home empty, and a foreign daughter-in-law, by her fidelity, becomes a link in the line of David and of Christ. The Douay-Rheims keeps the Vulgate forms of the names: Naomi is Noemi, Boaz is Booz, Orpah is Orpha, and Jesse is Isai.

Who wrote the Book of Ruth?

The book does not name its author. The oldest tradition is Jewish: the Talmud (Baba Bathra 14b) says that Samuel wrote the book that bears his name, the Book of Judges, and Ruth. Catholic commentators long received this view, and Bishop Challoner's preface to the book in the Douay-Rheims says simply: "It is thought this book was written by the prophet Samuel." Those who hold it point to the text itself. The book closes with the genealogy of David (Ruth 4:17–22), which the prophet who anointed David had every reason to record; it stops at David and never mentions Solomon. It also explains the loosing of the shoe as a custom of "former times" (Ruth 4:7), as a writer would who looked back on the judges from the beginning of the kingdom.

The Church has never defined who wrote Ruth, and the Pontifical Biblical Commission issued no decree on it. The Catholic Encyclopedia (article "Ruth," by Francis Gigot, 1912) is more reserved: it calls the book anonymous, judges the ascription to Samuel without foundation, and dates the book before the Exile from "the comparative purity of its style." What the Church does teach, with the Council of Trent, is that the book is sacred and canonical, with God as its author. Many modern scholars place its composition after the Exile, in the age of Esdras and Nehemias; we note their view without adopting it.

When was the Book of Ruth written?

The events belong to the period of the judges, three generations before David, since Booz and Ruth were his great-grandparents (Ruth 4:21–22). Older chronologers tried to fix them more exactly (Haydock reports Ussher placing them under the judge Samgar), but these are learned guesses. The writing itself is later than the events: the traditional reading places it early in the monarchy, in the days of Samuel or David, because the genealogy ends at David and the custom of the shoe had to be explained to readers.

What is the Book of Ruth about? A summary

Chapter 1: Noemi's loss and Ruth's choice

Famine drives Elimelech of Bethlehem, his wife Noemi and their sons Mahalon and Chelion into Moab. Elimelech dies; the sons marry Moabite women, Orpha and Ruth, and after ten years they too die childless. Hearing that "the Lord had looked upon his people, and had given them food," Noemi sets out for home and urges her daughters-in-law to go back to their mothers. Orpha kisses her and returns; "Ruth stuck close to her mother in law," with the vow that is the most famous passage of the book. Back in Bethlehem, Noemi asks to be called Mara, "bitter," instead of Noemi, "beautiful." They arrive "in the beginning of the barley harvest." Read Ruth chapter 1.

Chapter 2: Gleaning in the field of Booz

Ruth goes out to glean the ears the reapers leave behind, a right the Law kept for "the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow" (Deuteronomy 24:19; compare Leviticus 19:9–10). "It happened" that the field belongs to Booz, "a powerful man, and very rich," a kinsman of Elimelech. He has heard of her devotion to Noemi, blesses her in the name of "the Lord the God of Israel, to whom thou art come, and under whose wings thou art fled," feeds her at his table, and has his men let fall handfuls for her on purpose. Noemi sees the hand of God: "The man is our kinsman." Read Ruth chapter 2.

Chapter 3: At the threshing floor

Noemi seeks "rest" for Ruth, that is, a husband and a home, and sends her by night to the threshing floor where Booz is winnowing. Ruth lies at his feet and claims his protection by the right of kinship: "spread thy coverlet over thy servant, for thou art a near kinsman." Booz praises her "latter kindness," because she sought to raise up her late husband's name rather than follow younger men and calls her "a virtuous woman." But a nearer kinsman has the first claim. Booz promises to settle it in the morning and sends her home with six measures of barley, so that she will not return "empty." Read Ruth chapter 3.

Chapter 4: The redemption at the gate and the birth of Obed

At the city gate, before ten elders, Booz offers the nearer kinsman Elimelech's land. He would buy it, but refuses when he learns that he must also take Ruth "to raise up the name of thy kinsman in his inheritance," and yields his right by drawing off his shoe. Booz buys the land and marries Ruth before witnesses, who pray that she may be "like Rachel, and Lia, who built up the house of Israel" (Genesis 29). The Lord gives her a son. The women of Bethlehem name the child Obed: "he is the father of Isai, the father of David." A genealogy from Phares to David closes the book. Read Ruth chapter 4.

What is the main message of the Book of Ruth? Themes and the Catholic reading

Providence in ordinary things. No miracle happens in Ruth and no prophet speaks, yet nothing is left to chance. "It happened" that Ruth chose the field of Booz (Ruth 2:3), and through a famine, a harvest and a lawsuit at the gate God prepares the house of David. The Catholic Encyclopedia sees its likeliest purpose in the edifying example of God-fearing people whose fidelity God rewards.

Conversion and the call of the Gentiles. Ruth belongs to a people the Law excluded: "The Ammonite and the Moabite, even after the tenth generation shall not enter into the church of the Lord for ever" (Deuteronomy 23:3). Yet she is received into Israel and into the line of the Messias. Challoner explains that when Noemi bids her return "to her gods," she is telling Ruth that to go with her she must renounce her idols; "thy God my God" is a true conversion.

St Ambrose, in his Exposition of the Gospel according to St Luke (Book III), asks how a Moabitess could enter the congregation, and answers that her holiness placed her above the Law, which, as St Paul says, is not made for the just (1 Timothy 1:9). Haydock calls her "an illustrious figure of the Gentile church," adding with Worthington that "Christ proceeded from the Gentiles, as well as from the Jews, and his grace is given to both." St Jerome, writing to Paulinus (Letter 53), says that "Ruth the Moabitess fulfils the prophecy of Isaias": "Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion" (Isaias 16:1).

Booz, the kinsman-redeemer. The book turns on the go'el, the near kinsman bound to buy back a poor relative's land (Leviticus 25:25) and to keep a dead brother's name alive (Deuteronomy 25:5–6). Booz freely takes on what the nearer kinsman refuses: he redeems the inheritance and takes the stranger as his bride. Catholic interpreters see in him a figure of Christ, who became our kinsman by taking our flesh, paid the price of our redemption, and took the Church of the nations as His spouse.

Bethlehem, the house of bread. The story begins with a famine in Bethlehem and ends in its harvest. St Gregory the Great, preaching on the Nativity, notes that Bethlehem means "house of bread," the fit birthplace of Him who said, "I am the living bread." Ruth comes there hungry and is fed at the table of Booz. Our article on when Jesus was born traces how the prophecy of "Bethlehem of Juda" was fulfilled.

Ruth in the genealogy of Christ. St Matthew names four women among Our Lord's ancestors: Thamar, Rahab, Ruth and "her that had been the wife of Urias"; "Booz begot Obed of Ruth. And Obed begot Jesse" (Matthew 1:5). St Luke's genealogy runs through the same names (Luke 3:32). St Jerome, commenting on Matthew, observes that no holy women are named in the Saviour's genealogy, but those whom Scripture reproves, so that He who came for sinners, being born of sinners, might blot out the sins of all. The 1962 Missal reads this genealogy as the Gospel of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 8 September (see the liturgical calendar), so the Church names Ruth each year on the birthday of Our Lady, the daughter of David's house.

Filial piety, chastity and hope. Ruth leaves father, mother and homeland for Noemi's sake, and Booz praises her for it (Ruth 2:11). Her conduct at the threshing floor is no intrigue: she openly claims a lawful marriage and Booz answers with honour, a lesson in the dignity of Catholic marriage. Noemi, who came home "empty" (Ruth 1:21), finds joy again when she lays Obed in her bosom; the mourner who reads her story will find more of God's comfort in what God says about grief.

Famous verses of the Book of Ruth

Ruth 1:16–17, "Whither thou goest." In the Douay-Rheims: "whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will I be buried." Ruth spoke them to her mother-in-law, yet they are often read at weddings for the self-gift they describe, the same lifelong fidelity Scripture asks of husband and wife (see what God says about marriage). The oath that follows, "The Lord do so and so to me," Challoner explains as an Old Testament form by which the speaker called evils on herself if she broke her word. See Ruth 1.

Ruth 1:20, "Call me Mara." "Call me not Noemi, (that is, beautiful,) but call me Mara, (that is, bitter,) for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness." The bracketed meanings stand in St Jerome's Vulgate itself: id est pulchram, id est amaram.

Ruth 2:4, "The Lord be with you." Booz greets his reapers with Dominus vobiscum, "The Lord be with you," and they answer, "The Lord bless thee": the same salutation the priest gives at the altar. See Ruth 2.

Ruth 4:17, "The father of Isai, the father of David." The verse that ties the book to the history of the kings and to the Gospel. See Ruth 4.

Where is the Book of Ruth in the Bible?

In Catholic Bibles Ruth is the eighth book of the Old Testament, between Judges and 1 Kings (1 Samuel), the order of the Septuagint and the Vulgate that Protestant Bibles also keep. The Hebrew Bible places it among the Writings (Hagiographa), as one of the five short scrolls, and Jewish custom reads it at the feast of Weeks (Shavuot), the wheat harvest with which its story ends. St Jerome, in his Prologue to the Books of Kings, notes that the Hebrews counted Ruth with Judges, because its history is told of the days of the judges.

Ruth is a protocanonical book, never disputed by Jews or Christians, and found in every Bible, Catholic and Protestant. The lists of the Council of Rome under Pope St Damasus (382), the African councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397), the Council of Florence (1442) and the Council of Trent in its Fourth Session (1546) all place it after Josue and Judges. Our guide to the Catholic Bible and its 73 books gives the full list, and the Douay spellings used here come from the Douay-Rheims Bible, translated from St Jerome's Latin Vulgate. With Esther and Judith, Ruth is one of the three books of the Old Testament named after a woman; the story of the queen who saved her people is told in Queen Esther in the Bible.

Is the Book of Ruth a true story? Its literary style

Ruth is a short prose narrative, mostly dialogue, with balanced scenes and names that carry meaning. Some have called it a pastoral idyll; the Catholic Encyclopedia rejects this, since the Jews, the Septuagint and Josephus all treated it as history and the Gospels place its people in Christ's genealogy. Details that a writer of fiction would hardly invent point the same way: a Moabite ancestress for the royal house, the ancient custom of the shoe, and David's later trust in the king of Moab, to whom he committed his father and mother (1 Kings 22:3–4). The Pontifical Biblical Commission (1905) answered that books held as historical are to be read as history unless solid proof shows the sacred writer meant otherwise.

How to read the Book of Ruth

Ruth can be read in one sitting of about twenty minutes. Read chapter 1 for the three widows on the road and Ruth's vow, chapter 2 for the gentleness of Booz and the law of gleaning, chapter 3 with Challoner's note on her "latter kindness," and chapter 4 for the scene at the gate. The Latin facing the English gives Ruth's vow in the Vulgate: populus tuus populus meus, et Deus tuus Deus meus. Then turn to Matthew 1 to see where the story leads, and read on into 1 Kings, where Samuel is born who will anoint David in Bethlehem.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who wrote the Book of Ruth?

The Book of Ruth does not name its author. Jewish tradition, recorded in the Talmud (Baba Bathra 14b), attributes it to the prophet Samuel, and Bishop Challoner's preface in the Douay-Rheims repeats it: "It is thought this book was written by the prophet Samuel." The Church has not defined the question, and the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 treats the book as anonymous.

When was the Book of Ruth written?

The story is set in the time of the judges, three generations before David. Tradition holds that it was written early in the monarchy, in the days of Samuel or David, because its genealogy ends with David and it explains an old custom as belonging to "former times." Many modern scholars propose a later date; the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913 judged it pre-exilic from the purity of its language.

What is the Book of Ruth about?

It tells how Ruth, a Moabite widow, stayed faithful to her mother-in-law Noemi (Naomi), went with her to Bethlehem and embraced the God of Israel. While gleaning she met Booz (Boaz), a kinsman of her late husband, who married her as her redeemer by right of kinship. Their son Obed was the grandfather of King David, so the book shows God's providence preparing the line of the Messias.

How many chapters are in the Book of Ruth?

The Book of Ruth has 4 chapters and 85 verses: 22 in chapter 1, 23 in chapter 2, 18 in chapter 3 and 22 in chapter 4. It takes about twenty minutes to read, beginning with Ruth chapter 1.

Who was Ruth in the Bible?

Ruth was a woman of Moab who married Mahalon, a son of Elimelech and Noemi of Bethlehem, and was left a widow. She refused to leave her mother-in-law, took the God of Israel for her own, and gleaned in the fields of Booz, who married her by the right of kinship. She became the mother of Obed and the great-grandmother of King David, and St Matthew names her among the ancestors of Christ (Matthew 1).

Is the Book of Ruth in the Catholic Bible?

Yes. Ruth is a protocanonical book, accepted by Jews and all Christians and found in every Bible. The Councils of Rome (382), Hippo (393), Carthage (397), Florence (1442) and Trent (1546) all list it after Judges and before the Books of Kings.

What is the main message of the Book of Ruth?

The book teaches that God rewards fidelity and governs ordinary events by His providence, receiving a stranger converted to Him among His people and into the line of Christ. The Fathers and Catholic commentators read Ruth as a figure of the Church of the Gentiles and Booz as a figure of Christ the Redeemer. It also honours filial piety, chastity and lawful marriage.

What does "whither thou goest, I will go" mean?

These are Ruth's words to her mother-in-law Noemi (Ruth 1:16–17), in the Douay-Rheims: "whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go... Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God." They are a vow of lifelong loyalty and a profession of faith in the God of Israel. They are often read at weddings, though first spoken between a widow and her mother-in-law.

Read the whole Book of Ruth verse by verse, Latin and English side by side, in the Iter Fidei Catholic Bible app.

Sources. The Book of Ruth, Douay-Rheims (Challoner revision) and Latin Vulgate, with Bishop Challoner's notes; Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary on Ruth; Matthew 1:1–16 and Luke 3:23–38; St Jerome, Letter 53 to Paulinus, Prologue to the Books of Kings (Prologus Galeatus) and Commentary on Matthew; St Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel according to St Luke, Book III; St Gregory the Great, Homilies on the Gospels, 8; the Babylonian Talmud, Baba Bathra 14b; Council of Trent, Session IV (1546); Pontifical Biblical Commission, response on the historical narratives of Scripture (23 June 1905); Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), "Ruth" (Francis Gigot); Missale Romanum (1962), Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.